Scheduling workouts
Question: Which days should I train? When should I rest? * How do you guys typically do the training splits for the prescribed workouts in the book? For example, is Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday preferable, or is it more preferable to do 4 days in a row and three days rest? * I'm going on instinct here... I'd say that if you are in the first two weeks, where the push/pull and core/legs are kind of scrambled together, it probably makes sense to have three days rest in a row. If you are later in the program where you are doing push days, pull days, etc., I'd break it up and do either something like two days on, one day off, two days on, two days off. * Thinking back, I actually did day on/day off and just treated the "weeks" as continuous, so I'd be starting the next week a day early. That way, if anything comes up and you have to skip a couple of days, it doesn't really throw anything off. It's easier once you get to 5 days, oddly. Or I found it so. * [http://marklauren.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=168 Mark Lauren's suggestion] Question: If I'm struggling, should I repeat a week or move on? How "easy" should a week be before you're ready to move on? * Push forward without repeating a week, modifying exercises as needed with easier variations. A core concept of the work out plan is 'periodization' (page 140 of the book), using different ways of training to force your muscles to adapt. Beating your head against a wall trying to do the same thing week after week not only risks getting you stuck in a rut, but may also lead you go get bored, frustrated and just give up for lack of progress. * Or repeat it until you're at least comfortable enough with it that you're not at risk of injuring yourself when you move onto the next week. * Don't let yourself get discouraged! Better to just skip an exercise that skip a whole routine. * Keep going, but reduce the difficulty of the exercises if you have to. The program should only be used as a guide. ... I don't know that I've ever done even *one* week of YAYOG without modifying it somewhat. * I did repeat the first two weeks, as towards the end of week two I realised I couldn't actually do a proper push-up, which was the first thing in week 3. It worked out ok, but possibly ended up making weeks 3 and 4 (my weeks 5 and 6) easier than they should be. * I'd guess it's not about making the week you're on easy, maybe more about whether you can physically even do the stuff in the upcoming week. Question: Should I try to move on to the next program or repeat the one I just did? Some advice from Mark Lauren: * "You might find that you are able to meet the criteria for a particular program, with some movement categories but not for others. For example, you may be able to meet the 1st Class minimums for Pulling and Pushing but not for Legs or Core. No problem. Just use the 1st Class exercises for Pulling and Pushing workouts, and use the Basic exercises for Core and Leg workouts." (from Which program should I use?) * "I recommend repeating weeks 7-10 until you are ready to move on to the next program. Take a week off each time you complete a run at the undulating block."Once you’re ready to move on to the next program, start at week 1 of the new program, since it will introduce new exercises that you may not be familiar with." (from Start the entire program over after 10 weeks?)